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I'm a beginner & cobbling together my first army from eBay and friend's 'hand-me-downs'. I haven't really given much thought to force coherency & synergy until now as I have been able to collect a fair amount of models cheaply, my agenda being I can pick & choose what I field from a larger force.

I'm only playing in social, non-competitive games with a focus on the fluff & narrative rather than going for balls-out victory.

So far, painted & ready to go, my army consists of:

x1 Terminator Captain

x1 Dreadnought

x10 tac Marines

(all the above from the start collecting pack)

Also:

another x10 tac Marines

x5 tac Terminators

x5 scouts w/ bolt pistols & c/c weapons

x1 Chaplain

x2 Rhino

x1 Drop pod

x10 Devastators

So I have a fairly sizeable force to begin with but as I said I've taken what I can get with little thought as to synergy.

What would you advise with my existing force in terms of (in the broadest of generic terms) the merits of each unit, what would/ wouldn't work well together, and what should be next on my wish list?

Thanks, and a Merry Christmas!

I would say this is a very very good base to start playing with in social games indeed. It has transports, troops, big guns and characters.

Depending on your tastes I would suggest you start to think about a theme for your army. Given that you are Imperial Fists, perhaps it could be a gunline army or a heavy siege army. This will really help you in your choices. The Imperial Fists like fielding big hard-hitting units, ie: Vindicators, Assault Terminators, Centurions, Devastators and so forth.

You could, ofcourse, also go in another direction entirely. Which would be a sternhammer / gladius strikeforce formation.

Lastly, you could also look into allies. Especially with the new synergistic books GW is pushing out lately. Think: Imperial Fists escorting/protecting an inquisitor and his detachment, or an Imperial Knight who has sworn an oath of fealty to the Imperial Fists.

Gameplay wise, Imperial Fists favour bolters, many shots, devastators (who get Tank-Hunter) and so on. You really are an army that grinds it's opponents down, rather than relying on the Alpha Strike like (for example) a white scars force would.

Your imagination is the limit, so go forth an explore!

That’s a fairly solid core.

I’d look at formations. You are pretty close to a battle demi-co. Need a fast attack pick.

Then I’d look into getting an aux pick to bring you up to a full Gladius. Two solid choices you are already close too are the 1st and 10th company TFs. So two more squads of vets (would recommend sternguard, although a squad of Vanguard could fit). The scouts make a good low cost option. I might get a box of snipers, and then a bolter squad, and a pair of LSSs.

1st Company might be useful; Imperial Fists love Sternguard (especially so if you bring along Pedro Kantor to make them Crimson Fists), and they can fit into whatever style army you want, be it gunline or drop pod assault.

You might also want to look into some anti-air. Either one or more of the flakk tanks or a Stormhawk Interceptor should do the trick. Don't go for flakk missiles; they cost a lot and Devastators are quite squishy